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| MADAGASCAR
Q&A with JADA PINKETT SMITH, BEN STILLER, DAVID SCHWIMMER, CHRIS ROCK, producer JEFFREY KATZENBERG and director TOM McGRATH Movie Interview by Ania Kalinowska |
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Jeffrey, according to the LA Times, this is in fact your debut as an animation actor! Apparently you have two roles, that of a policeman and a role that was physically modelled on you although ironically the character doesn’t speak a word in the film… JEFFREY KATZENBERG: Yes, I’m the extremely inarticulate penguin, Rico, who never says a word but does do some grunting and I prepare sushi at the end… Tom, congratulations not only on directing the movie, but also on stealing every scene that Skipper [the penguin] is in. Why did you play the part - were you desperate to do this or couldn’t you get anyone for the money? TOM McGRATH: I’m very inexpensive and it was fun for me – the penguins had a small role and it kept growing. They worked well with the story; they had a little sub-plot that mirrored what the New Yorkers were going through. It was a lot of fun. Jada, you’re the only lady in an all-boys team. There’s a lot of skin to get under in your character – the largest one in the film. How do you go about playing a four-legged friend? JADA PINKETT SMITH: We’re chosen to play these characters because of certain characteristics that we have that match those of the character that we’re playing. Gloria is all about attitude, which I’m all for, so it wasn’t difficult. Ben, what about your lion character? BEN STILLER: He was a New Yorker which was what I responded to most. He was also an actor who loves the adulation of the crowd, he was very much about performing: that was how I approached Alex. David, how did you find the very different work of doing an animation project? DAVID SCHWIMMER: It wasn’t without its challenges, because none of us were in the same room at the same time. You have to really use your imagination much more, like you would as a kid. I’d try to give the director as much to choose from as possible. It was also really freeing not having to worry about make up and not how you look. Chris, this is a chance for you to reach an entirely new audience – I’d imagine that most kids don’t watch your concept DVDs… CHRIS ROCK: You’d be amazed at the amount of kids that come up to me, whispering disgusting things in my ear! Tom, tell us more about the casting of Sacha Baron Cohen? TOM McGRATH: The original character had 3 lines in the film. Sacha came in and while playing around with accents, based this character off an odd uncle of his (at least that’s what he told us!). So the 3 lines turned into about 20 minutes, which was so funny…so we changed the roles. This guy just had to be king of these lemurs. He was so inventive and really brought a lot to the film. David, would people who know you be surprised to find you cast as a hypochondriac? DAVID SCHWIMMER: I don’t know! I actually feel that who I am in real life is pretty much the opposite of this character, so it’s fun to play into this idea of who Melman is. Jada, are your kids amused at the fact that mom is a hippo? JADA PINKETT SMITH: You know, after seeing dad as a fish…anything’s possible! Continued on page 2 |
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